Fire Emblem Remix
by pretebs
Summary: A crossover series featuring alternate versions of the Fire Emblem worlds, and a threat no one army can face alone...


There's a moment in the heat of the battle where everything feels different. A point when the cool Talys breeze takes away everything but despair.

Once that moment is up, you have a choice. You can choose to run to the limp and broken form ahead of you, clutch his tattered royal robes to your chest and pray you're in a dream. Or you can raise your spear, forget the slash across his heart and the one you imagine across yours, and charge with fury towards the enemy, every ally you can find uniting with you in the name of their fallen prince.

In that moment, you either surge with hope, or find it lost forever. I can hardly bear to turn away from the body, but I watch the knights in the corner of my vision. They are yet to know what happened here. I need to help them, or-

"Don't look."

Who spoke? I struggle back onto the pegasus, enough pulse returning for me to seize my lance-

"Princess Caeda, we have to get you out of here. There's no hope left in this fight."

A woman with bright red hair steps out from the fort. She knows that a bloody attack is taking place, and still she's dressed like a travelling merchant.

She clumsily curtsies and tries to explain. "The truth is, I need your help more than this world can."

"This is not the time. Prince Marth is dead. The knights of Altea will soon join him. I have a duty-"

"Maybe I can do something about that - but promise you'll come with me afterwards, won't you?"

I sigh and nod. All I want is for this day to end.

"Good. If you didn't know, you can call me Anna. Jagen! Did someone say this fight was over? Or do we still have thugs to kill?"

The elder knight charges towards us, pursued by a procession of axe-bearing thugs. Anna slips past him, sliding a dagger from her sleeve, and swiftly stabs one of the ruffians in the side. As he struggles, she turns to me-

"What are you standing around for? Lead them to the other side of the island and we can close in before they figure out what's up."

I shut my eyes and try to push the image of bloodstained blue hair out of my mind. Then I open them and focus on the battlefield ahead of me. I stir my steed to action and swoop back into the fight. Pale feathers gleam in the cursed sun, catching the eyes of the attackers. Their brutish minds can't help but turn their focus to the shinier target, oblivious to how I can fly much faster than their charge.

Once I reach the far shore of Talys, I turn back to see a trail of defeated pirates, blunt axes in fallen hands. Anna stands triumphant, driving her dagger into the earth, but Jagen has despair in his eyes.

I rejoin them and Jagen nods grimly. There are no survivors, only the two of us and this merchant.

Yet Anna pipes up, still intent on further plans. "We need to get to an island south-east of here. Did you catch where the invaders left their boat?"

"You said our time is short. With my pegasus, why should we bother with a boat?"

"Oh, Caeda. I have a lot to explain before we get to the island and flight would be too quick. In any case, the old man won't fit on a flying horse."

I stroke the pegasus reassuringly. She's one of the finest from the mainland - I was told she's always had a fighting spirit. Despite Anna's reasoning, I can understand why taking to the ocean would make sense. It would offer us all a chance to rest.

I lead them towards the spot where the invasion began and we load ourselves onto the boat. I must assume there are supplies on board, because I cannot face returning to the castle.

We set off, Jagen driving us onwards with his remaining strength. The last glimmers of the sunset melt across the ocean. My life is over, and I have to trust that this mysterious woman can offer me a new one.

"So, I do owe you two an explanation," she begins, "As I said before, I'm Anna, and-"

"You're a merchant, correct?" Jagen interjects, "I believe I made a visit to your shop on the mainland many moons ago."

I no longer understand how happiness could exist, but Anna's face lights up all the same.

"Ooh, he said 'many moons ago'! Sorry, I travel a lot, the last place I was, they talk a bit different, y'know?"

I can hardly move to acknowledge her.

"Anyway, long story short, your world is not alone. You probably think that your planet, your version of Talys and Archanea, is all there is, but you're really just one of millions of timelines. I'm a merchant on almost all of them. You won't believe the heroes I've sold a vulnerary to. It might not be much comfort, but there are plenty of times where Marth survives, and he leads an army to fend off the forces of evil - for a while, at least. Sometimes he manages it without any trousers!"

Marth. He still lies amidst the dirt and blood. He deserves a proper burial.

"If this is all true, what do you seek from our version of reality?" questions the knight.

"Oh, I was just getting to that. There's been an awakening in the multiverse. Actually, there probably hasn't, but that sounds better than what it actually is. There are many other travellers of the outrealms, and in one world, a group of prophets, visionaries, and clairvoyants have come together to form a group they named the Assembly of Foreshadowers. Last week, they all got the same message."

Her story sounds too strange, but it's far from the most shocking thing I've heard today. I have no choice but to trust her.

She leans forward, her eyes aflame with determination. "_Something is coming._"

"Well, what?" she asks herself before either of us can, "They don't know. Not exactly. But they knew it had to be a danger to everyone, and they knew they needed help, so they called me in, and now I'm calling you in. I can't go to any old timeline and nab the great Hero-King, because you never know what might happen to that world."

"Something like what's happened here, I suppose," Jagen remarks.

"Exactly. I figured if I look for worlds that are already doomed, I'd be able to find warriors no-one would miss. Sorry. I'll do my best to make your lives more exciting than if you'd fought some manky dragon, though. Caeda, are you still listening?"

The spitting curves of the sea are putting me to sleep. The pegasus has already curled up.

"Alright, fine. I'll catch her up in the morning. Jagen, we'll need to turn a few degrees. I hope you're ready for this."


End file.
